$2.25M CONTEST TO ADVANCE HEALTH SENSORS

The X Prize Foundation and Nokia said Thursday they are launching Nokia Sensing X Challenge, a $2.25 million competition to encourage development of advanced health sensors.

The competition was announced at the Wireless Life Sciences Alliance Convergence Summit, which is being held this week in San Diego. Nokia operates a mobile phone research and testing facility in Rancho Bernardo.

The contest runs parallel with the $10 million Tricorder X Prize competition sponsored by San Diego wireless giant Qualcomm. The idea is that sensors developed for the Nokia Sensing X Challenge also could be used by teams competing for the Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize.

Since the Tricorder X Prize was announced in January, 185 teams from 25 countries have registered to compete, said X Prize Foundation Chief Executive Peter Diamandis. The three-and-a-half-year competition calls for developing a handheld health scanner akin to the fictional Tricorder from the “Star Trek” TV and movie series.

The Nokia Sensing X Challenge is focused on sensors that will allow individuals to collect real-time health data about themselves — much the way today’s cars use sensors to monitor performance. Diamandis said the goal is to help create an ecosystem around advanced sensors.

“We should be generating gigabits of data per day around our health,” he said.

Sophisticated analytics software, coupled with cloud computing technology, makes it feasible to analyze all this data today, said Diamandis. That wasn’t the case a decade ago.

“Health sensing technologies enabled by artificial intelligence, lab-on-a-chip and digital imaging are advancing exponentially and will ultimately integrate with your phone,” said Diamandis. “We need to expand sensor and sensing technology beyond disease management to areas such as public health and fitness.”

Henry Tirri, chief technology officer for Nokia, said the company has been doing research on sensor technology for years as part of its mobile phone business.

“This type of competitive challenge has proven to be a very engaging method of opening a very broad amount of innovation,” he said.

The Nokia Sensing X Challenge will be a series of three contests held over the next three years. A winner is expected to be named each year for a $750,000 award.